Orkney Farmer Faces Persistent Geese Problem Despite Extensive Deterrent Efforts

Marty Hay, a farmer in Orkney, is experiencing difficulties with geese. Greylag geese are capable of consuming an acre of crops, valued at £700, in a single night. Despite deploying 100 scarecrows, utilizing gas guns, and dedicating considerable time to deterring the geese, Marty’s efforts have been unsuccessful. Hay expresses frustration that the primary conservation effort in Orkney targets the eradication of non-native stoats, rather than addressing the issue of geese. With 300 acres of crops, he states that geese represent a greater nuisance for numerous farmers. Stoats have proliferated across the Orkney mainland and are reported to present a significant danger to breeding seabirds and the Orkney vole. Since 2019, the Orkney Native Wildlife Project (ONWP) has managed a multi-million pound initiative, spending £7.9m and eliminating 6,300 stoats. Marty Hay is critical of the stoat eradication project receiving more financial resources compared to the funding allocated for controlling geese populations. A report released by the Scottish government in February 2024 indicated that the resident greylag geese population in Orkney was approximately 24,000 in 2022. In the same year, the government committed to funding measures to manage resident greylag geese numbers on several Scottish islands. This included a provision of £50,000 over two years for initiatives in Orkney, Lewis and Harris, Uist, Tiree, and Coll. “I’ve never actually met a farmer that’s said that the stoats are a problem, yet the geese are just an absolute pest,” Marty stated. He added, “I actually think it affects my mental health, trying to keep the geese out of our barley and our bare.” Hay further detailed his efforts, saying, “We have a hundred scarecrows, we put out scrap cars, we have gas guns and scary men.” Marty suggests a collaborative approach where both schemes could operate cooperatively to tackle both issues. He proposed, “They’re going around baiting traps, especially in the spring. They could be oiling eggs or doing something to help the geese problem at the same time.” He concluded, “I think farmers would get behind a project like that if it was doing two jobs in one.” Hay expressed skepticism about the complete eradication of stoats, noting that some farmers are refusing the ONWP permission to place traps on their property due to their desire for increased efforts to control geese populations. He remarked, “I don’t think that stoats being here is a good thing but I just cannot see that they will manage to eradicate them.” He elaborated, “There’s certainly pockets of every parish, two or three farmers that have stuck together and won’t allow them on their ground so while it’s like that, they’re never going to eradicate them because they have a safe place in every parish.” The ONWP stated its position that the eradication of stoats and the management of geese should remain distinct issues. The project also indicated that sufficient traps have already been deployed to achieve a complete eradication of stoats, covering 83.5% of the Orkney mainland and its connected islands, which includes 93% of areas where stoats are known to breed and feed. An ONWP report indicates improved nesting success for various bird species. The report also noted a 200% increase in evidence of voles, though it acknowledged the challenge of accurately counting their populations. The project is currently commencing what is anticipated to be its concluding five-year phase. Allan Perkins, a senior conservation scientist for the RSPB, authored the ONWP’s report on stoats. He commented, “It’s really proof of what we suspect in that removing stoats will be beneficial for some of these key species.” Perkins elaborated, “So by monitoring the responses by the Orkney voles and some of the key species like the hen harriers and some of the waders, we could show that their numbers and breeding success is increasing at the same time as we’re removing the stoats.” He concluded, “So it kind of validates the project.” He further stated, “It is a complicated picture. It’s quite difficult to isolate stoats as the single factor because there’s so many other things impacting on these species.”